


difficult roads, beautiful destinations

by Kr_ys



Category: Original Work
Genre: Drama, Emotional Rollercoaster, F/F, M/M, Suicide, Tears, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 11:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16596710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kr_ys/pseuds/Kr_ys
Summary: oop





	difficult roads, beautiful destinations

  Ember still had no clue as to why she'd signed up to be an assistant park ranger. Maybe so her summer wouldn't be so lonely. Or so her college applications could look just a little bit nicer.

  Her older sister had been the main reason. "It'll be good for you, Em, trust me!" Her sister's cheerful, falsely upbeat voice rang in her head.

  She was left with the last patrol of the day. The sun was quickly setting and most of the park's visitors were packing up their picnics or camera equipment and leaving.

  Ember watched the happy families and couples with undisguised sadness and envy.

  The blonde turned away and skirted the territory closer to the cliffs.

  Usually there were a few stragglers there, foolish tourists standing a bit too close to the cliff's edge to snap an Instagram pic or get a shot of the astonishingly beautiful view from there.

  Ember couldn't blame them. She would likely do the same if she was brave enough - and if she didn't have full access to the park at almost all hours of the day and night.

  Her brown eyes swept across the mostly empty cliffs - mostly. A strangely familiar figure loomed over one of the precipices. 

  Ember muttered a prayer under her breath and headed up after the straggler.

  "Um, h...hey, the park's shutting down!" she called out, hands cupping around her mouth so that her voice would travel farther. Of course her voice was still too quiet to reach the stranger.

  Ember strained her eyes, but couldn't see a camera in the hooded figure's hands.

  Her back was to the assistant park ranger as Ember dared to venture even closer. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears and feel her hands shaking as she neared the figure.

  Ember came close enough to reach her hand out to the other's shoulder.

  Almost immediately, she recoiled her hand as if a snake were hissing fire at her before cautiously tapping her fingers very gently and lightly on the black hoodie positioned in front of her.

  The figure whirled around, dark eyes instantly meeting Ember's. The blonde did a double take and nearly stumbled backwards in her shock. "Rowan...?"

  Ember's voice trailed off for confirmation of the girl's identity.

  She slipped her dark hood off and - yes, it was _the_  Rowan Abrams. In the flesh.

 Rowan's slightly hazel - nearly green - eyes were lined with bags. She didn't appear high or smell strongly of weed as she typically did, but it was still going to be undoubtedly challenging to convince her to go home.

 Ember was probably going to be spending a while up here, talking the other teen off the cliff. But not in the way she had originally planned.

 "Rowan, you, uh...you need to come down." Ember was visibly shaking, both from the close proximity of the cliff's edge and from the close proximity of Rowan Abrams. Right there. Sitting in front of her.

 "Don't try to tell me not to do it. I've already made up my mind." Rowan shifted back around and let her long, skinny legs hang off the edge again, glancing down at the steep drop down into the valley.

 "D-do what?" Ember pried through her mind for any relevant topics, anything linked to what Rowan was rambling on about. Maybe the incoherent brunette  _was_ high.

  Rowan's snort caught her off guard. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Hartman." A pair of eyes that had somehow grown even darker whirled around to defiantly meet hers.

  Ember's brown eyes filled with tears, suddenly understanding the stakes at hand and what was being implied.

  "Uh...could...you..." Ember struggled for what to say. She couldn't believe that this was the way Rowan planned on ending her life. Just magically in the same park that Ember was volunteering at over the summer. "Please...not do that?" She finished rather un-majestically.

 Rowan stared at her. She kept staring. And then she burst into laughter.

  "That is one of the saddest things I've ever heard. But, you know what? I'm not going to listen to you. I don't have to...Miss...?"

  "Assistant park r...ranger," Ember said, filling in the gap.

  Rowan fell into a fit of sardonic laughter again. "Miss Assistant Park Ranger," she mimicked cynically.

  Ember shrank back, confidence and authority quickly dropping. "Please don't do it. I..."

  "Why shouldn't I? Give me one good reason. Hell, I'll walk down this cliff hand in hand with you if you can literally talk me off the edge, Hartman."

  An impossible feat in Rowan Abrams's eyes. A difficult but well-rewarding task in Ember Hartman's. 

  "Give me one week. One hundred, sixty-eight hours...to convince you why you shouldn't do it."

  Ember paused to let her words sink in. Rowan appeared genuinely surprised, taken aback before her expression shifted back to her usual pessimism.

  "...And if you fail?"

  Ember inhaled sharply.

  "And if I fail...then I guess I'll just have to jump with you."

  Rowan contemplated it for a couple of heartbeats.

  Time seemed to stand still, Ember's own heartbeat lurching in her throat. She gulped in anticipation.

  Rowan glanced back up before standing to her feet, towering over the shorter girl by at least five inches.

  Her shadowy eyes bore into Ember's.

  "Brave, coming from you..." A confident smile crossed Rowan's face, waiting for Ember to back down or backtrack or admit that she was just kidding.

  Ember's eyes bore back into hers, unwavering. She anxiously awaited the brunette's response, lips in a thin line, devoid of any emotion.

  Rowan's triumphant smile faltered.

  "You've got a week. One hundred, sixty-eight hours."

  Rowan repeated the blonde's exact statement except with less seriousness in her voice.

  Ember stood there. "Good...that's...great. Thank you so much, Rowan."

  Rowan held out her hand and Ember was dumbfounded, standing there and eyeing it with distrust.

  The hazel-eyed girl sighed, rolled her eyes, and grasped Ember's hand securely in hers.

  "Lead the way. You've got-" Rowan reached out to Ember's other arm, pulling back her beige sleeve. Ember followed her gaze to the watch adorning her own wrist.

  "Five hours to begin convincing me. Good luck."

  Ember took charge, still a bit shaken but confidently clasping the girl's hand in hers and leading the taller of the two down the hill.   

  Sure, they got odd, nosy looks from people leaving the park but Ember ignored them, pushing that empty, cold feeling in her stomach down.

  She led Rowan to the outskirts of the territory, toward a grassy area underneath a tall oak tree before pulling a picnic blanket out of her backpack.

  Ember grasped the burrito she'd packed for lunch but hadn't eaten since she was feeling nauseous earlier and unwrapped the foil, cutting it in half with a plastic knife.

  Ember handed the bigger half to Rowan, who instinctively opened her mouth to refuse it.

  "No talking. Please. Not to be rude," Ember added swiftly.

  Rowan just smirked and gratefully took it from the shorter girl, devouring it in a matter of seconds. Ember bit more delicately and slowly into hers, savoring each bite.

  Ember wrapped up the foil and Rowan nudged her to get her attention. Ember pointedly ignored her, entranced by the beautiful night sky.

  Rowan reluctantly followed her gaze, a brief, soft chuckle emerging from her lips at the captivating sight.

  The two scooted closer and watched in silence as the sky darkened and the stars came out to play.

  Ember's hand inched closer to Rowan's, fingers curling tentatively around hers, but the taller girl quickly retracted her hand, her smirk disappearing and a dark, sullen look returning. 

  Rowan stood up, breath hitching in her throat. "I've got to go," she mumbled, standing up and dusting a few stray blades of grass off of her black jeans and hoodie.

  Ember watched with dismay and defeat. Panic rose in her chest, accelerating her heartbeat. "Promise me you won't-"

  "I won't." Rowan didn't meet her gaze as she turned on her heel and disappeared into the night.

  Ember was left feeling worse than before, shame burning in her chest as that cold, empty feeling returned.

  She balled her hand into a fist and forced herself to think of the situation as a learning experience; as her sister often said, "You can only do better tomorrow."

  Today didn't go great. But Ember would make the best of the next day and she would save Roman. Her hands were heavy with the weight of not one, but two lives in them. 


End file.
